Just days after ex-Labor MK Omer Bar-Lev handed a letter of apology to the sons of HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein, z’tl in which he stated that he “apologizes from the bottom of his heart,” he claimed that it wasn’t an apology after all.
In an interview with Yediot Achranot, Bar-Lev said: “We didn’t surrender. I don’t see it as an apology letter. You can write headlines from here to there but it wasn’t a letter of apology.”
“We weren’t pressured by the threats,” Bar-Lev claimed, explaining why he visited the Edelstein home. “But as soon as it turned into another battle in the Israeli public and against the bakery – a bakery that has been supplying bread for 100 years – as soon as it became clear to us that our silence was being interpreted as arrogance and disdain, it was clear that something had to be done.”
Bar-Lev explained the sequence of events: “A week after I assumed the position of chairman of the board of directors of Angel Bakery, various parties spread fake news about me as if I had protested in front of the home of HaRav Edelstein, z’tl, slighting his kavod. I didn’t foresee the result of the boycott. But it happened very quickly.”
It should be noted that contrary to Bar-Lev’s claim that the protest just happened to be at that specific location in Bnei Brak, the protest organizers announced that the protest was outside the home of the Rosh Yeshivah, z’tl in a notice to the press.
Bar-Lev admitted that he was surprised by the strength and scope of the boycott but denied that his “apology” [that “wasn’t an apology”] had anything to do with financial concerns. “The whole story is not a financial one. Obviously, orders were canceled, but what worried us was that people would start to be fired from the branches [that were closing due to the boycott]. So people supporting their families will be fired? That’s all I needed.”
It should be noted that as soon as the reports of Bar-Lev’s “apology” was publicized, he was attacked by the far-left for “capitulating” to the Chareidim so he is obviously now trying to save face.
Angel owner Yaron Angel disavowed himself from Bar-Lev’s statements. “Omer Bar-Lev is a private and political person and the interview was a personal one. We were not a party to the interview and what was said during it. Angel Bakery apologized sincerely and in a clear and open manner – an unambiguous apology. This is a fact and we stand behind it.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
22 Responses
Bar-Lev is a card carrying member of the erev rav.
-Very simple, let Yaron angel fire Bar-Lev! That should show us who’s sincere…
At this point, does anyone really care what he may have said or meant?? His behavior was totally inappropriate and he will pay a price in the long-term.
“This is a fact and we stand behind it.”
So kick bar lev off the board
If you want to boycott Angle’s go ahead, but it seems pretty immature. I personally think that this was a very petty issue. The fact that they made an boycott against Angle’s was extreme, quite frankly. It was very nice that they came to the Shiva to show respect for the Gadol HaDor (and an amazing person). They didn’t come to apologize for a non issue. They came to clarify that they were not trying to insult Rav Gershon but were protesting the politics of a political party (which he was the head of). There’s no way they will ever agree with his political opinions, that’s fine, but they came to pay respect.
The Chareidi boycott has restarted.
SIMPLE SOLUTION. CARRY ON THE BOYCOTT BUT DECLARE THAT THERE IS NO BOYCOTT!
Get him a in
Get him a job in the mossad
trying to be clever ,
bar lev tells the secular what they want to hear : ‘no apology’
yaron angel tells the religious what they want to hear : ‘apology’
they want to ‘have the cake and eat it too’
Quite a clever bakery….
There is a clear difference between O. Bar-Lev & Y. Angel. One of them has more skin in the game – both a sizeable chunk of preferred shares and his namsake legacy. The other is just a provisional hire, here today, gone tomorrow.
This reminds me of the the temporary high fix we get from refined ultra-processed carbs. See my posts on the original:
https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/2189515/harav-zilberstein-buy-angel-why-isnt-kavod-hatorah-important-to-you.html
(I figure YWN would milk this story for every last drop giving me more opportunities to post my health message across. I apologize for the repetitiveness. At least my “puns are freshly baked” 😉
Honestly, I read their “Apology” letter on the streets of Yerusholayim, and it was pretty weak to me.
The point was that we (the chareidi public) misunderstand what happened and really there was no attempt at all to attack the chareidi public or it’s rabbanim (revisionist histor, but who should we beleive, them or our own lying eyes??)
Anyway, they are not protesting the politics of a political party, they are ANTI CHAREIDI protests. Read what they say, read their press releases…
BTW This idea that a public personality, has the ability to do stuff “as a private person” by protesting against another public personality in that persons private life… Hypocracy at it’s best
It took them a month to pretend to apologize and less than a day to clarify that it wasn’t really an apology.
It took them a month to pretend to apologize and less than a day to clarify that it wasn’t really an apology
He wounds just like Paaroh after the Maaka stopped.
Bottom line is, that all the small people who work for Angel must not have their פרנסה jeopardized, and must continue to be able to place food on their table for their families
@DAnthe Guess you need to work on your kavod hatorah
DAN THE,
ITS OBVIOUS THATWITH YOU PETTY BRAINS YOU DONT UNDERSTAND WHAT ‘KVOD HATORAH’ IS
YFRBOUCHER
YOU GO ACCORDING THE RULES OF THE IMOS HUOILOM.’ WE GO ACCORDING THE RULES OF TORAH WHICH STARTS AT OHER HACHAIM SIMEN 1 ENDS CHOSHEN MISPAT 420
@Dan The: Which country/planet are you from?
You obviously know nothing about life in Israel.
Charedim have been persecuted here for 75 years.
The former AG even affirmed that it is legal to discriminate against Charedim because it is not ‘racially’ based!
The chairman of the board of Angel came to Bnei Brak and proclaimed (my son heard him!) “Good morning Bnei Brak,” because he wanted to wake up people who don’t get up early enough to be productive citizens.
“We are protesting against the Chareidim, next to the home of Rabbi Edelstein, who don’t serve in the army and will not tell us what to do”.
So, Angel wants to spit in our face and make money from us too?
They can have their chairman but not our money. That is their decision.
After extreme losses and a request from the president of Israel, to stop being babyish and apologize for their attack on the Charedi sector, they finally relented.
We don’t have to be trampled any more by leftists. This was a lesson for companies we love our money to be careful about treating us like citizens with equal rights.
Even though the government (especially the courts) still does not give us equal rights, we are working on it slowly.
My husband asked me tonight if there’s still a boycott of Angels (before I saw this non-apology backtracking.) I said in THIS house, yes. He said good, because I picked up bread this week, saw it was from Angels & put it back.
Bar-Lev SHOULD be fired.
Angel bakery should be banned FOREVER